Stories by Topic

Story by Date

Partner Help Needed as Security Concerns Hamper Mobile Adoption

Even as mobile device use and BYOD have approached the mainstream, concerns about the security of all those devices and the integrity of the data they access and create continues to weigh of the minds of IT decision makers, according to a recent study.

The survey conducted by the non-profit research firm Association for Information and Image Management and Palo Alto, Calif.-based mobile file sharing specialist Accellion Inc. indicates just 18 percent of business organizations are confident that their mobile policies are compliant with corporate policy and government regulation. More than half (51 percent harbor significant doubts about their company’s mobile content management processes.

Those trepidations are causing hesitation and resistance in the implementation of systems for sharing critical business data on mobile devices. 63 percent of those polled say they want to eliminate or limit VPN use in their organizations and 91 percent have put strict limitations on which sites or folders are accessible to end users on mobile devices.

Just 14 percent of organizations surveyed have a corporate app store, with another 14 percent in the process of developing one.

“The growing need for mobile content access by employees is creating significant security headaches for organizations,” said Accellion CMO Paula Skokowski. “How employees access corporate information is changing, and organizations need to respond to these changes by implementing new mobile policies and processes, or risk playing security catch-up with their employees.”

According to Skokowski, the growing chasm between what mobile workers want and what IT departments can secure is causing friction for organizations in all industries. The survey of 284 IT decision makers un the U.S. and Europe found that only 30 percent of organizations have an approved BYOD policy in place, while 68 percent say they feel mobile information access is essential somewhat important.

While confusion and chaos still reigns in the corporate mobile space, there is progress being made. 51 percent of large organizations say they now have a mobile device management solution in place. The number is predictably lower in smaller shops where only 24 percent are taking advantage of MDM tools.

Still, the telling figure from the report for channel partners is that 90 percent of those surveyed say they are concerned or extremely concerned about the security and integrity of their mobile file sharing efforts, demonstrating the clear need for organizations to adopt well developed mobile content access policies and functionality.